I'm hoping to start playing some pc games on my desktop, and I'm aiming to upgrade my CPU first. I currently have a Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 @ 1.86Ghz in what I believe to be an Intel P965/G965 Motherboard. (The computer was a gift and I'm using CPU-Z to see what it has.) My questions are: What's the fastest processor I can upgrade to without a new motherboard/adaptor, and what sites would you recommend I buy from?
Looks to me like you need to upgrade your motherboard. With a good but cheap board like a GA-P45-DS3L you could overclock that CPU to 3ghz easy.
A 965P board could take an E6600 at least, depending on which board it could also potentially take something like an E6850 or Q6600, both of which would be a big step up rom your current chip. A new board, however, would allow you to overclock your processor, and any more recent CPU you shove in it.
I thought he meant an Intel board which cant overclock at all. Otherwise a GA-965P-DS3 overclocked like mad.
I did too, and indeed they can't overclock, but they will support faster CPUs than the E6300. He can either shove a newer CPU in, or buy a board that can OC / support faster still 45nm chips.
I'm not too sure about overclocking, I've always heard that it's more damaging than productive. But a new motherboard does intrigue me. But if I were to buy one, how hard would it be to find one that's compatible with my RAM/video card? If it's not that hard, sure, I could get some money for a new motherboard. Also, my computer has about 12 usb ports,six of them are 2.0. They're on the keyboard, on the monitor, and on the case. Do most motherboards support these?
Your RAM needs to be DDR2 and your graphics card needs to be PCI express, apart from that there's not much to it. Overclocking can be as simple or as complex as you like - you can overclock a core 2 duo chip by a significant amount (at least 25% for most chips) without changing any other settings but the speed, dead easy, and doesn't cause any reliability issues whatsoeever. On the other hand you can go for broke and spend weeks tweaking your settings to get the highest possible speed, it's all relative.
Hm, I didn't realize overclocking was so simple. Ok, well, if I was to go for broke, what's the fastest processor I could get, as long as I got the accompanying motherboard?
Ouch, I see your point. Well, I'll keep looking, hopefully I can find something that won't completely break my bank. Thanks a lot for all your help!
More realistic option: Core 2 Quad Q6600 or Core 2 Duo E8400 and Gigabyte EP45-DS3R. Lower cost option: Core 2 Duo E5200 and Gigabyte EP35-DS3L.
